My First Cabinet- A Donkey Kong Cocktail - Now with Donkey Kong 2!

[TheDomesticInstitution]

On Monday I went into the Value Village in Charlotte to look around. As I browsed, I heard a worker yelling at another associate to "Get Away from Donkey Kong!, Get Away From Donkey Kong!".

I had absolutely no idea why someone would yell that across the store, and continued looking around. Then I heard the music. I quickly scanned the store, but didn't see an arcade anywhere. Then the same woman started again yelling, "Get Away From Donkey Kong!, Get Away From Donkey Kong!"

Well this time I paid attention to where she was pointing and followed the music up to the front. And thats were I found this old thing. It was priced $250, which I thought was a decent price. In fact, a few weeks ago I resurrected an old thread here, asking if an arcade perfect port of donkey kong had ever been released on a home console. So here it is my "arcade perfect" DK, and in a Cocktail version- which would allow me to put it in the house without too much re-arrangement. Awesome!

It seemed in pretty good condition, that is until I looked closer. It looked like there was a problem with the CRT. You can see in the pictures, that the left side of the screens vertical resolution is compressed. Well, I figured that I'd think about it and do some research online to see if it was worth buying, even with this problem.

That night I inquired here on the forums, and Arcade Antics responded assuring me it was a good deal. Not only that but the problem was fixable. Of course, I have yet to determine if I am capable of the fix. Anyway, I alsdo talked to the GF about it a bit and she also said... "why the hell not." But on the other hand... it was a long drive (45 minutes - 1 way), there was no guarantee it would be there, and I honestly don't need to be spending the money right now. So after and hour and a half of internal deliberation I decided to go back for a second look. Fuck it.

Anyway so I went back, with the hope it was marked down a bit... which I could then justify purchasing. Well, it was still $250. I told the manager-looking dude, that I'd like to take a closer look and wanted to know if he had the key for the coin drawer. He didn't. Then I described to him the screen problem, and showed him what I was talking about. As I opened it up and started playing with the picture controls he offered to take $50 off. Not bad, but I told him I'd think about it for a while. Anyway after he walked away I looked at it for a while and then closed it back up. I gave him his screwdriver back (which I used to open the lid), and said $200 was still too much, especially if I had to fix it. I said thanks anyway and headed for the door. He then said... how about $150. Without hesitation I said "I'll take it."

So here it is. I've only had it about 3 hours now, but I'm still excited-because it's my 1st arcade. I figure $150 is well worth it even if I have to get it professionally fixed. I know it's not the find of the year, and a lot of you have seen these before, but I'm happy as fuck about it and thought I'd provide some pics. So enjoy some classic game pornography...

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Arcade Antics seemed sure of the problem when I described it in writing, but I put up some pictures of it to show what it looks like anyway. And sure enough, just like he told me, it can't be fixed by adjusting the picture controls. So any additional thoughts on the problem, or a rough estimate on the price if I were to get it fixed would be appreciated. Otherwise the image looks fine, and all other blurriness is due to my shitty camera's auto shutter- not the cocktail.








Anyway this has been pretty wordy, so I'll wrap it up. You'll notice I had to spread it out over 2 cards to be able to afford it. Maybe it's not smart, but collecting isn't rational often a rational person's hobby. And a big thanks to Arcade Antics for his invaluable information.

[Arcade Antics]

A SMOKIN' deal to be sure, even all the original artwork is there and looks to be in very good condition. Looks like it's all original except for the P2 stick. And aside from the foldover on the left, even the monitor looks amazingly good.

The actual cap kit will probably run you about $7-10. If you replace them yourself it's just gonna cost you that plus your time (plus any tools you might not already have, soldering iron, etc.). Pulling the board is more difficult than actually replacing the caps.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Everything seems to be in great condition with the two exceptions you can't see that well in the photos:

- some of the faux woodgrain has chunks out of it.
- the are some knicks in the paint on the metal areas.

I would assume there's probably a kit somewhere to replace the woodgrain panels. And touch-up painting wouldn't be hard if I could find the right color. And I'm also guessing I can find a replacement stick online.

Anyway, in the mean time I'll still play it and even with the screen fold it's still very playable. And later on, I'll get repairs done when I get more money.

Also it sounds halfway decent too.

So yeah... thanks.

[Phyeir]

Nice find man... the first arcade is always nice (just got mine a month ago, so the feeling is still great). Are you gonna go out and replace the joystick to try to make it as close to 100% original as possible? Seems like you already plan a lot, anyways.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Wow!! I love it..Awesome Machine!!Great Find..

[Gurn13]

My wife called me today at work to see if I wanted this very machine, and I also passed for $250. For $150 you got a good deal.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Nice find man... the first arcade is always nice (just got mine a month ago, so the feeling is still great). Are you gonna go out and replace the joystick to try to make it as close to 100% original as possible? Seems like you already plan a lot, anyways.

Yeah, the joystick is on the list. But it'll be one of the final things I do to it. I'd like to eventually get it as near as new as possible.

My wife called me today at work to see if I wanted this very machine, and I also passed for $250. For $150 you got a good deal.

I'm sure if I waited just a little longer, it would have been gone. I didn't think he'd budge on the price, but I guess I played my cards just right.

[Sonicwolf]

I bet im not the only one here that wishes they could find something awesome like this ar a value village. My best Value Village find ever was a ... loose Super Famicom.

[otaku]

cool. I recently had the chance to get a neo geo for 50 bucks but had nowhere for it to go and it sold enjoy the cocktail.

[InsaneDavid]

Congratulations and welcome to cab ownership. Nice machine and excellent price!

[shawnbo42]

Nice score on that, especially being a table. Kinda hard to find those around, and for that price, well worth it.

[Felixthegamer]

Well played on the price and great find! Are you pretty good at DK? It is always nice to see another collector find something so cool!

[SPAZ-12]

That is a nice find! I love finding stuff like that that needs just a little bit of fixing. It's so satisfying when you can finally get it to work. Wish that I could have an arcade cabinet, but I have no room. Again, congrats on the nice find!

[TheDomesticInstitution]

So I've been doing some online research and I contacted Bob Roberts about a Cap kit, for about $5. I think I'll be able to do this, and if I do I'll post updated screen shots.

And as far as your question Felix. My DK scores would be very very embarassing if I posted them here. I'll consider myself as a work in progress right now.

Anyway thanks for the congrats all. I've found the best part about this vs. a regular cabinet, is that you can put your beer on the top. Which is a huge plus in my book.

[aclbandit]

The only arcade machine (besides building a MAME cab) that I really want is an upright DK. If I manage to find enough money one day, perhaps I'll get one.

Congratulations on finding yours!

[Superman]

That's a nice find!

I glanced through the pictures first, and it looked great. I really didn't see any major problems with it.

Then read the description of the issues and although you mentioned a few issues, there still isn't anything major.

Congratulations on your first (and very nice) cab!

And good point about being able to put a drink on it.

[Arcade Antics]

I've found the best part about this vs. a regular cabinet, is that you can put your beer on the top. Which is a huge plus in my book.

Not so fast... the Nintendo uprights all have flat tops, so you can put a drink on top of them too.

[boatofcar]

Congrats! I miss shopping at Value Village, I always found some great stuff there.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Congrats! I miss shopping at Value Village, I always found some great stuff there.

Yeah, this particular one has been pretty good this year. Which is cool for broke-asses like me, who don't have a lot of money to spend.

Not so fast... the Nintendo uprights all have flat tops, so you can put a drink on top of them too.

Oops, my mistake.

Anyway I got an email response about the cap kit. I'll be mailing off a $12 money order today for the parts.

Another small problem with the cab is that it doesn't save high scores after it's turned off. Well, after doing some research DK cabs, by design, don't save the scores. Well I've found they make a $40ish kit that plugs into the board, that allows you to save the high scores. So now, that's an additional thing I'll be doing down the road.